


Five Times Hardison Kissed Eliot and the One Time Eliot Kissed Back

by evil_moo_bunny



Category: Leverage
Genre: Canon Compliant, First Kiss, Fluff, Focuses on Alec/Eliot but Parker is important, M/M, OT3, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-17
Updated: 2017-11-17
Packaged: 2019-02-03 16:22:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12751878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evil_moo_bunny/pseuds/evil_moo_bunny
Summary: Hardison keeps kissing Eliot, and Eliot can't find it in himself to mind.





	Five Times Hardison Kissed Eliot and the One Time Eliot Kissed Back

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place throughout the course of the series so there are spoilers for a few episodes. The ones to watch out for are S4E7 "The Grave Danger Job" and S5E10 "The Rundown Job."

1.  
The first time Hardison kissed Eliot was during a con. The two of them had gone into a nightclub to check out the owner, a potential mark. Somehow during all their intel gathering no-one had realized exactly what kind of nightclub it was. It became clear when they were talking to the bartender and asked about setting up a meeting with the owner over a prospective business deal. The bartender, who had been all smiles, gave them a once over and motioned for the bouncers to come closer. 

“No offense, gentlemen, but we want to make sure anyone who meets with the boss has the right kind of intentions in mind. We’ve had enough trouble as it is.” 

“What kind of trouble-” Eliot had been in the midst of asking, when Hardison coughed “subtly” and motioned to a pair of men who had just started making out at the end of the bar. This in and of itself did not bother Eliot, but he was slower on the uptake than Hardison. The hacker, for reasons that would keep him wondering for years, shifted effortlessly into the new role the con demanded. He shifted his body language in a way that managed to be just slightly possessive of the hitter, and wrapped one arm around his waist. 

“Oh we know all about that kind of trouble,” said Hardison with a conspiratorial grin. “Trust me that is the last thing me and my honey bear want.” Still slightly thrown off by the change in scene, Eliot started to make a growled protest to the nickname. Before it could reach fruition, Hardison leaned in and planted a very light, incredibly chaste kiss on the corner of his mouth. The lighter-haired man was certain he’d taken gut punches that hadn’t silenced him nearly as effectively. He gave the taller man a slightly surprised look, and got only a wink and “whatcha gonna do?” smile in return. The bartender, apparently not noticing anything amiss, smiled and told them if that was the case he would be happy to arrange a meeting, and motioned for them to follow him. 

“You and I are going to have words about this honey bear thing,” growled Eliot under his breath. Hardison just grinned and grabbed his hand, following the bartender out of the room.

2.  
Around second time Hardison kisses Eliot, the latter has begun to realize a few things. The main, and really the most important thing, is he’s realized just how much he likes it when the other man touches him. There’s something about Hardison that makes physical contact easy, which is a blessing because the hitter really likes the contact but it’s a curse because it forces him to realize just how touch-starved he has been. The problem, he decides one night over a beer, is that Hardison places exactly zero expectations on the other person. He sees it clearly when he watches Parker and Hardison interact, watches the absolutely delicacy with which he approaches the thief. He’s obvious with his interest but let’s Parker set the boundaries. He thrives when affection is returned but is understanding when it’s not. If he expected something it would be easy to say no, because then the weight of it would be too much. But he has the audacity to respect them and give them space, giving touch freely when he knows he can.  
But the real problem, Eliot decides, is that Hardison is the least broken among them. Sure, he has scars, but he’s not broken. He lacks the jagged edges that mark the rest of the team. Eliot and Parker understand each other in a way that the hacker will never be able to, their broken pieces align in a way that consistently surprises him. But Hardison, whole and somehow innocent, knows where those jagged edges lie even if he doesn’t understand them. He embraces those edges without reservation, cares about them when they feel like no one should. It’s not right, Eliot tells himself, and tries not to think too much about it.

Then Hardison makes the Japanese baseball commercial for him. 

“This is seriously the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever done,” says Eliot and he can’t quite repress his smile. Hardison leans over and kisses him on the forehead like it’s the most natural thing in the world.

“You’re welcome,” he grins, and wanders off.  
Eliot stands there, slightly dizzy. He’s one of the most dangerous men alive, he’s broken, jagged, a murderer, and Hardison acts like kissing him is...safe. And he does it without expecting anything return.

“There is something seriously wrong with him,” he mutters to an empty room. He pretends not to notice how quickly his heart is beating.

3.  
By the third time Eliot has recognized that there is...something, between him, Hardison and Parker. He’s not sure what it is, or even if he wants to define it, but it’s certainly there. He’s happy that it exists but still believes somehow that it’s only temporary, like every other relationship in his life. Somewhere in the back of Eliot’s mind is the idea that one day he’ll leave and let Parker and Hardison live their life in whatever version of a white picket fence they make for themselves.

Then Hardison gets buried alive, and Eliot realizes he could never walk away from them. He’s faced multiple near death experiences without batting an eye, hell, even as a team they’ve all been in danger before. But nearly losing Hardison like that is the scariest thing he’s ever known, and one shared glace and Parker is enough to know that they both feel the same. When Hardison is saved Eliot throws himself on the other man, grasping him just to feel that he’s there. Parker...to say that she’s struggling would not capture the depth of what she went through. She crying, worn out, emotionally exhausted in a way she never thought possible, but she keeps it together until that night. Eliot cooks while she and Hardison talk privately and isn’t terribly surprised when Hardison reappears alone. 

“She...I think she went to go jump off buildings for awhile. You know, clear her head,” says Hardison as he slides into a chair. Eliot nods. He understands. The long-haired man serves up some food and sees Hardison shaking in his chair, head held in his hands. For a brief moment he wonders how Parker could leave Hardison alone like this when he so obviously needs someone, and with a realization that carries an almost physical impact he gets it. Parker would have stayed, forced herself to stay, if Hardison had actually been alone. But she knew, took it for granted, really, that Eliot would be there for him. She depended on him, knew that he would keep the person they both cared so much for safe while she dealt with the things she needed to deal with.  
Eliot realizes in that moment that he was foolish for thinking he could ever walk away. He’s here until they decide to leave.

“You need rest,” he tells Hardison, and for once gets no glib response in return. Hardison collapses into bed, and Eliot doesn’t hesitate before sliding in next to him. He worries still if he’ll be welcome, if this is okay, but Hardison clings to him like he’s the only solid thing in the world.  
On the brink of falling asleep, Hardison raises his head up and kisses Eliot on his jawline. 

“Thank you,” he whispers, lips scraping against skin. Eliot’s brain, set on fire by the simple contact, cannot think of a verbal response so he wraps his arms around his partner and holds him close.  
Sometime in the night he wakes from an uneasy sleep by a gentle pressure on the other side of the bed. Parker is there, eyes red from crying, sitting on the other side of Hardison. Eliot gets that fear again, is ready to leave if he needs to, when she gives him a smile of genuine gratitude and relief. Without a word she curls up against Hardison’s back, reaching across and laying her hand against Eliot’s side.  
Eliot is sure he won’t be able to fall back asleep, but the next morning he can’t remember a time when he’s slept so soundly.

4.  
The fourth time Hardison kisses Eliot is caused entirely by the hacker deciding to cause mischief. The hitter-turned-brewery chef has been slaving away making new dishes that pair with their beer, and none of the heathens in his crew seem to understand that he’s making art. Nate and Sophie are off running the initial part of a con while the other three sit around. Eliot is slaving away over perfection, Hardison is at least pretending to work on his laptop, and Parker is sitting on counters and being a general menace. 

“Okay guys, I want you to take a sip of this beer and then take a bite of this pasta,” says Eliot with the grin he gets when he knows he’s nailed a dish.  
Hardison raises an eyebrow and follows orders, but after swallowing both down he shrugs.

“That’s it? Just a shrug?” Eliot asks with grumpy incredulity.

“I mean, it’s good at and all, but I’m not sure it’s…” he eyes the menu. “$13.oo good.” Eliot huffs. 

“Really man? You have to do it properly. It’s all about letting the aftertastes mingle.” He grabs the beer and pasta from Hardison and somehow misses the grin that passes between the other man and Parker. 

“You have to do it like this,” he demonstrates, taking a sip of the beer, letting it rest on his tongue before swallowing and following suit with pasta. “That’s how you get the full flavor of the dish.” Hardison winks at Parker, and without apparent warning reaches over and grabs Eliot’s lapels. He pulls him into a kiss, sweet and playful, but over so quickly that Eliot is still trying to realize what’s happening. 

“You’re right,” says Hardison with a grin, “Letting the flavors mingle really does enhance the experience.” With that, he grabs his laptop and wanders off to the back room, humming to himself. Parker has stolen the pasta by this point and when the dazed chef looks to her for some kind of answer she just smiles happily at him from over the plate. 

“I’m going to make him pay for that,” he threatens hollowly, and the thief just nods like she knows exactly how meaningless the words are.

“I know,” she says, but what she means is “He has the same effect on me.”  
None of this should feel so right, Eliot thinks to himself, but he finds himself smiling and for no apparent reason for the rest of the day.

5.  
The fifth time is act of pure relief. It’s immediately after they have saved everyone from the deadly contagion that threatened D.C. To say it’s been a stressful day does not capture the full crushing weight that they felt, but perhaps none of them felt it as keenly as Hardison. The experiences that left Parker and Eliot they way they are prepared them slightly for this. Eliot knows what’s like to survive in warzone, Parker’s wars may have been more personal but she grasps the basic landscape. But nothing prepared Hardison for this experience, none of their cons carried the consequences of failure like this one.  
So when Parker and Hardison come rushing back into the subway train after saving them all from a horrible death, the dark-skinned man is already well past his limits. 

“It’s taken care of?” Eliot asks Parker.

“You’re shot!” Hardison shouts, dropping to the ground beside him.

“Yeah, we’re good,” says the blond with a smile that would look serene to anyone else. Eliot gives her the same smile in return.

“Did you not notice the bullet wound in your shoulder?” Hardison is moving around, frantic, but he doesn’t know what to do so mostly he’s softly patting the hitter’s chest.

“Yes, I noticed,” he says with a fake grumpiness. “But it’s through the shoulder and hit nothing major. I’ll be fine.” Hardison lets out a choked sound and leans over, kissing the other man with a passion. Parker watches, and knows it’s the exact same kiss that Hardison gave her right after she lit the disease on fire. It’s not a romantic kiss, but it’s his way of saying “You’re alive, you’re here, you’re safe,” and “goddamn you never do that to me again” and “I need you.” Eliot, exhausted, doesn’t kiss back but lets the kiss wash over him.

It’s the best first aid he’s ever received.

+1.  
After that there’s really no point in denying that the three of them are irrevocably the three of them. Still, Eliot can’t quite allow himself to believe that he gets to be so lucky. It’s not until they’re celebrating their first successful job together after Nate and Sophie leave that it really hits him how right it feels, how perfect. They’re sprawled together eating Chinese takeout, limbs laid carelessly over other limbs, laughing and reminiscing.  
This is what home feels like, Eliot realizes. On the heels of that: I love them. He’s spent five years making sure that in his mind they were his crew, his partners, but drawing a line there. Yes, he cared for and needed them but there had to be the line because one day it would be over. And yet, without him fully being aware of it, these two crazy people became his family. He listens to Parker’s snorting laugh and sees Hardison’s smile and knows that this, this will last. 

“You got quiet,” Hardison nudges the hitter.

“I was thinking back to our first job,” he replies. 

“Why?” asks Parker with her customary bluntness.

“Remember right after you handed me that check, Hardison? What did I say?” Hardison furrows his brow, trying to think back, but Parker raises her hand and bounces a bit. 

“I know! You said that someone had to kiss that man so you didn't have to!” Parker exclaims. Eliot grins and nods. 

“Yes I did. But here’s the thing, no one kissed you, did they?” Eliot asks.

“No they did not,” replies the hacker and anyone but the other two wouldn’t have heard the slight nervous tremor in his voice.

“That’s an oversight that needs correcting,” Eliot says softly, and pulls Hardison to him, replying “yes” to a question the other man has been asking for years. It’s slow, deep, and it contains everything that Eliot had been trying to say but didn’t quite have the words for. And Hardison, he’s just so damn happy that he’s practically vibrating.  
When they come apart, Hardison’s eyes are bright, his smile radiant. Eliot smiles back, and the two just look at each other for a moment, reveling in each other’s presence when a surprisingly strong blond tackles them with a happy “Eeeeeeeeeeeee!” They embrace her, laughing, and finding a way for all of them to snuggle together proves shockingly easy.

“You know,” Hardison says with a grin, “That was an awful lot of money.”

“Well,” replies Eliot, “I guess that means I’ll owe you more kisses.”

After that, they stop counting.


End file.
